1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for managing a data transmission performed for utilizing, in an information processing apparatus, image data transmitted from a capsule-type endoscope to a receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Endoscopes are often used for observing inside of a human body in recent years. An endoscope includes an imaging unit so that the image data obtained by imaging inside of a human body by the imaging unit is transmitted to an external apparatus and an image is displayed. A physician observes the displayed image and performs a diagnosis, an operation and other medical procedures. The image data is transmitted from the endoscope to an external apparatus by way of a cable or using radio communications. The latter type of endoscope is also called a wireless endoscope. To use it, a receiver is required to receive the image data transmitted by way of the radio communication.
As an example, reference patent document 1 notes a surgery apparatus including one unit of wireless endoscope and two units of transmitting and receiving apparatuses. The two transmitting and receiving apparatuses severally receive image data from the wireless endoscope. Even if a reception failure occurs in one transmitting and receiving apparatus, the image data is transferred thereto after received at the other transmitting and receiving apparatus from the wireless endoscope, and therefore the reception condition can be recovered to a good condition.
Meanwhile, the wireless endoscopes also include a type called a capsule-type endoscope, which is used in combination with a portable receiver equipped on an examinee. A capsule-type endoscope includes an imaging unit and a wireless transmission unit for transmitting image data obtained by imaging to an external apparatus by way of a wireless communication. The capsule-type endoscope is used as follows.
First, the examinee swallows the capsule-type endoscope which proceeds in the examinee's body by means of the peristaltic movement of the digestive canal in about eight hours and which is eventually ejected from the body. While the capsule-type endoscope is within the body, the image data obtained by the imaging unit performing imaging operation is transmitted by the wireless transmission unit so as to be received by the receiver. The receiver stores the received image data in a built-in storage unit or a removably attached storage medium. If the imaging unit is configured to image, for example, two times per second, the image data equivalent to approximately 60,000 images is accumulated in about eight hours.
The image data accumulated in the receiver is transmitted to an information processing apparatus such as a work station after the capsule-type endoscope is ejected out of the examinee's body. The transmission takes relatively a long period of time. As an example, if approximately 60,000 images are accumulated in the receiver throughout one examination as described above, it sometimes take tens of minutes to transmit the vast amount of the image data. Those pieces of image data transmitted to the information processing apparatus are displayed on a display apparatus as images so as to be observed by a physician and other medical staff.
As the popularization of the capsule-type endoscope progresses, there will predictably be an increase in a plurality of examinees using the capsule-type endoscopes simultaneously or successively in a single hospital or inspection agency. This prompts a need to solve a problem or problems particular to a plurality of receivers existing.
For example, one of such problems is a possibility of misidentification of an examinee when equipping the examinee with a receiver. Reference patent document 2 notes a receiver (i.e., an external device) importing the identification information specific to an examinee (i.e., a subject) and storing and displaying it in order to prevent such misidentification. The identification information, for example, concerns the name, birth date, sex, et cetera, of an examinee. A physician or another medical staff collates the identification information displayed on the receiver with the examinee, thereby enabling a prevention of misidentifying the examinee as other examinees. The identification information is read from the work station and imported into the receiver. For importing the identification information, a detachably attached portable storage medium may be used or the receiver may be connected to the work station via a cradle.
The problem specific to a plurality of receivers existing is not limited to a misidentification of examinees. With respect to managing transmissions of respective pieces of image data from a plurality of receivers, what are required to be devised include improvements in efficiency, operability and/or convenience.
As an example, when the N-number of examinees are simultaneously examined by using capsule-type endoscopes, the operator of a capsule-type endoscope system carries out a process for transmitting respective pieces of image data from the N units of receivers to an information processing apparatus such as a work station after finishing the examination of N examinees. This process may be carried out by, for example, connecting one receiver to the information processing apparatus and performing a transmission from the receiver, followed by repeating a step of changing over the receiver to the next receiver, which are connected to the information processing apparatus, upon completing the present transmission and a step of performing the transmission from the replaced new receiver.
Such a method, however, requires an operator involvement and manual work every time the receivers are replaced. Further, if an operation and management method in need of a constant operator standby for the involvement and manual work is adopted, the operator is unnecessarily retained because the transmission of image data requires relatively a long period of time as described above, and therefore the work efficiency is not good. Further, it might be possible for an operator to replace the receivers every time the transmission from one receiver is completed, while the operator is engaged in another work. In this case, however, the operator is required to interrupt the other work for any number of times.
Accordingly, a contrivance is made to improve the work efficiency in the case, in which a receiver is configured to accumulate image data in a removable storage medium, by processing M-piece of storage media taken out of M-unit of receivers in a lump and thereby the frequency of the operator intervention is reduced.
For example, it is feasible to adopt a method to connect a storage media reader having four slots to an information processing apparatus for use in the transmission of image data, in which case the M=4. In this method, an operator takes out the storage media respectively from the four receivers, inserts the four storage media into the four slots, respectively, and instructs the information processing apparatus to start transmission, the mere operation of which causes the image data for the respective four examinees to be automatically and sequentially transmitted to the information processing apparatus. Therefore, the operator is relieved from waiting in front of the information processing apparatus for a period of time until the transmission of the image data for the four examinees is completed, enabling her/him to be engaged in another work without being interrupted.
If the receiver is configured to accumulate image data in a built-in storage unit, in place of a removable storage medium, however, the aforementioned method can not be adopted, and therefore the work efficiency and convenience of the operator is not sufficiently supported.
Further, if a plurality of examinees has to be examined one after another, there is sometimes a need to reuse the storage medium and/or receiver as soon as the transmission of image data is completed. For example, in the example method using the storage media reader having four slots as described above, there is sometimes a need to take a first storage medium from the reader and reuse the first storage medium when the transmission of the image data from the first storage medium is completed. The appearance of the storage medium, however, does not indicate as to which storage medium corresponds to which examinee, and therefore the operator has not conventionally been able to easily determine as to which storage medium to be taken out from the reader for a reuse. That is, the storage media have not been enabled for an efficient reuse through a simple operation, which has been sometimes inconvenient.    Patent document 1: Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-275950    Patent document 2: Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-296186
As described above, there is a factor undermining the work efficiency of an operator and the reuse efficiency of a receiver related to the transmission of image data from the receiver to information processing apparatus in the case of a plurality of receivers existing to receive the image data from capsule-type endoscopes. That is, there is a room in the conventional system for improving the efficiency, operability or convenience.